There is no evidence of criminality in Whitewater -- but that doesn't mean it's trivial

Watergate. Whitewater. Both contain the letters w-a-t-e-r. Adopt the fashion of attaching the suffix -gate to any scandal whatsoever (remember Ice Cream- Gate? Doublebillingsgate? never mind, nobody else does either) and the second becomes Whitewatergate, identical to the first except for an extraneous syllable. But do the two share any other similarities?

Some, certainly, and not altogether superficial ones. Both concern allegations of impropriety directed at a President of the United States (though only Whitewater also involves the First Lady; one would have to look very long through the mountain of Watergate clippings before coming across even a glancing mention of...